Cycling UK Forum

No problem, just remember that the surgeons are great at fixing things but don't deal with the pain afterwards, that's where pain management comes in. Obviously your going to have some amount of pain whilst reccovering which should ease. Weather you'll be pain free or not is a different matter. I also do pain management training and sometimes, not always, if a person's had an injury, surgery etc months, even years down the line they still say they have pain in the area, ie, your ankle. It doesn't mean your mad but it is usually referred to as a phantom pain if there's no reason as to why you feel the pain. It's about retraining your mind, breathing techniques and overcoming the pain as long as there are no complications.

But you may not have the ongoing / phantom pain anyway. And don't be scared to take painkillers and get them into your system straight after the operation to build up an immunity to the pain but then start to gradually reduce the dose over time of whatever you get although your doctor / surgeon will advise you.

You still want to feel slight pain / discomfort so that you know your not overdoing it and just masking the pain causing problems at a later date.

Also I don't know why the review says the Courier can't handle single track roads, I use them ALOT on these no problem at all The only time I got my teeth clattered was when I came through rough woodland. It was getting late and was the quickest way home and downhill to the other end of the wood but along canals, tarmac, gravel, on road it's great, as is the mountain bike, only slower.

I had a mountain bike to start with, jushttp://reviews.asda.com/1440-en_gb/0 ... views.htmt a cheap one with large tyres and enjoyed it even though it's pretty slow . It's now up at my caravan as I have a new "long distance" bike for at home http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/ ... e-08-24199 tis is what I have at home and it's suitable on or off road as i've found however as said I think it's too flimsy for real off road dirt biking but it's survived. In fact I just had it serviced and all that it needed was a slight adjustment of the gears and new front brake pads and it's clocked up some miles believe me!

I was up at the caravan, as I am most weekends and for the first time in a while took my mountain bike a 12 mile cycle, nothing compared to what I do at home, and I did enjoy it. Off road the bike was great but on the road it was still good but a hard slog and slow. Much slower than my home bike.

I'd go for the two bikes if you know where your going BUT saying that alot of the time I actually just go and see where the road or track takes me!

I like the sturdy frame and thick tyres on the mountain bike and even though i'm not a speed freak I love that the hybrid gets me about quicker. I doubt I could go as far on the mountain bike and maybe have to walk up a few more hills than with the light hybrid but both bikes suit me fine.

I'm just glad one's at the house and one at the caravan or i'd spend more time deciding what bike to take out!

I'm not an expert but am a sports massage therapist so deal with a number of injuries and ailments most days.

You won't have as much flex in your ankle once it's fused as you did before but should hopefully have less pain. The pain when walking makes sense above due to the loss of movement in the ankle yet you don't really need to bend and flex the ankle much when cycling so as said above cycling should be back to normal after surgery and as tempting as it is don't go too far too quick. Your muscles and ligaments will be needing strengthened back up again after surgery as you'll have been less mobile whilst recovery so little and often is ideal.

Also, as much as they're handy please try and stay away from the supports you can get as much as possible. Without trying to contradict myself by all means wear one when your walking, cycling etc if you really need to but ONLY if you really need to and take it off as soon as you stop to rest. Reason being is that if you wear it all the time the muscles, ligaments and tendons around the ankle relax and lose tone as they don't need to support the joint because the support your using is doing the job for them if you see what I mean.

Mounting and unmounting as you've said could be an issue at least for a while after surgery as you won't be able to put weight on the ankle for some time.

I've had a bad right achillies tendon since last September, running (which I hate anyway) at one of my gym classes. Felt it at the time but was able to continue so didn't think it was that bad - until the next day when I could hardly walk! And it's still causing me problems now and cannot walk on it at all first thing in the morning or if I get up from sitting for a while however I can cycle until my heart's content!

Bone heals better than tendons and ligaments as they just tear and take alot longer than a broken bone to heal so please take care of these and they'll take care of your fused ankle.

Lastly remember RICE = Rest Ice Compression Elevation especially when been doing any activity and / or if you feel pain.

Sorry if i've bored you, it's my job Good luck!

Plus some cycle paths are so overgrown and not very well signposted I tend to find I do go on the road but try and stick to paths where I can.

It's ok found it I think but don't understand the bit about avatar as it's saying the file must be a certain size but I know nothing at all about things like that so that's ok, was just more to update my location.

Hi, sorry not very techy here but was wondering how to update my profile with my location, picture etc as there's nothing on it when I click and can't see anything to add any information.

Thanks

Hi, thank you for all the replies. Yes i'm in the UK, Scotland. I'll need to update my profile I think.

I didn't think it was "law" as I also found the same link to the highway code and everything else I found basicly said if your in an accident without a helmet then try and claim damages then you haven't got a leg to stand on.

I'll have a look in all the sections, there's so many, just finding my way about here

Hi all, i'm new here so not sure i'm in the right place, plus I made a post then lot it unless posts are moderated before they go live.

Anyway i'm just wondering if it's actually LAW to wear a helmet whilst cycling on the road? The reason is that our friend got himself a second hand bike for going back and forward to the train station for work. He picked it up as it was only a short distance away but was stopped by the police who went over the bike and advised him to wear brighter clothing etc and said that by law he must wear a helmet.

I know it's common sense but id it really the law? As loads of folk (not me) don't wear a helmet He's got all the gear now though!